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server 2003 Shut down without administrative password

19th June 2008, 21:53

is it possible to shut down windows server 2003 without the administrative password. Our consultant/administrator quit last Friday and now we need to shut down the server to have some electrical work done to out building.

I am not sure of the service pack level. The screen shows the administrative log in but we don't know the password. We would also like to power up the server again after the work is done.

I think your a bit stuck there. There might be a GPO to do this but your gonna have to get onto the server to configure that option, or you could configure the GPO (If there is on) and set it to the OU the server is located in.

TBH, I would concentrate more on getting the administrator password. Can you not give the guy a ring and ask him?

Comment

is it possible to shut down windows server 2003 without the administrative password. Our consultant/administrator quit last Friday and now we need to shut down the server to have some electrical work done to out building.

I am not sure of the service pack level. The screen shows the administrative log in but we don't know the password. We would also like to power up the server again after the work is done.

Any help would be appreciated.

Doesn't have to be done with the administrator account, it can be done by someone who has administrator rights, you have to provide more info, is it an workgroup server or domain server??

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I agree with M80arm, you would be better to sort out the missing password.
Are you sure there are no other accounts that have admin rights? Have you tried any other accounts to logon to the server for example?

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I have no experience with servers. I was asked to try and do something to regain control.

The server runs a program which uses the database Interbase 5.5. We have two other computers that can log on to use the database. I don't believe that there are any other accounts. As far as I know Interbase is the only program with our data in it.

I don't think we can ever get the administrative password back. The administrator/consultant is about a year behind on what was supposed to be a three month project and quit when the owner ask him for a realistic time frame was to complete the project. We were supposed to add six more computers to use the database and have an internet connection installed to all of the computers as well.

We have the data in a dos database as well and it was a large expense for out company to have it translated into the Interbase. We have been updating both databases but we had hoped to switch exclusively to the new system.

What would be the most probable thing to happen if I just pulled the plug and would it likely still work if I turned it back on?

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What would be the most probable thing to happen if I just pulled the plug and would it likely still work if I turned it back on?

All the lights and sounds from the server would cease abruptly
(A very low probability that the server might start singing "Daisy, Daisy" as you do this )

There is a good chance that turning it on will be OK, especially if you do sensible things like logging off / shutting down all clients first. Without knowing more about whats happening on it, its difficult to say, though.

You could then try the admin password reset, since you appear to have nothing to lose at this stage.

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I agree with M80arm, you would be better to sort out the missing password.
Are you sure there are no other accounts that have admin rights? Have you tried any other accounts to logon to the server for example?

I've used it a lot at my new place as none of the servers / workstations were documented and I had to sort out the passwords.

Having to pull the plug on a server isn't the end of the world, but as others have said, the database will probably be the biggest risk. If it's fairly new hardware then it will more than likely survive and I'm sure your consultant documented the server recovery process just in case?

You could try and use the 'shutdown' command from a dos prompt on another computer to shutdown or reboot the server manually, not sure if you'll need the admin password to do that though, so catch 22 if you do! (Type shutdown /? at the command prompt for info).

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Depending on the hardware you could just press (not hold in) the power button and this then initiates a clean shutdown, but DO NOT take this for granted, hard to know without the hardware spec and OS details.

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Thank you for your help and comments. I apologize for wasting your time. We ended up chaining together several 100 foot extension cords and plugging them into the company next door.

Despite the consultant avoiding our calls and then leaving fake passwords on the answering machine, we have allowed the consultant/administrator to continue working and we still don't have the passwords.

Comment

Did you ever get this resolved? I do have some ideas for your database that could prevent this from happening again.

Feel free to contact me through email at REMOVED BY MOD

DOS databases are a thing of the past along with even the newer version you are trying to get into but there is a free software platform that is multi-user you can use and it can be a low cost solution either in-house on a low-end server or offsite that you can access securely.

Last edited by biggles77; 28th October 2008, 11:55.
Reason: Live email address moved and this old thread now being monitored.